


The Machine Of Dreams

by AdventurousScientist (Tuiteyfruity)



Series: Mystic Woods [20]
Category: Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia Wrede, Mystic Woods, Original Work
Genre: Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Logic, Fairy Tale Parody, Fairy Tale Style, Gen, Giant/Tiny, MIND MY TAGS PLEASE, Non-sexual vore, Soft Vore, Vore, giant tiny - Freeform, gianttiny, gt story, gt vore, safe vore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25150066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tuiteyfruity/pseuds/AdventurousScientist
Summary: Yonah (the “evil” giant wizard) deals with thieves on a regular basis. They are rather a nuisance but they do taste good!Almost every encounter with a thief follows a pattern: 1) Thief breaks in to the tower. 2) Yonah catches and eats the thief. 3) Yonah releases the thief and if they accept it, gives them some money for their trouble. but what happens when a thief figures out his bluff?Warnings: fearplay until it’s not scary anymore… Very vague mention of fa/tal vore (none occurs). Minor skin irritation due to stomach acids occurs but no permanent harm is done.
Relationships: Yonah HaEsh & Jake Silverman, Yonah HaEsh & Sophia of Orr
Series: Mystic Woods [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1563316
Kudos: 2





	The Machine Of Dreams

It was late afternoon in the Tower in the Woods. A lazy late afternoon. The tower’s resident evil giant wizard and his captive princess were playing cards in the living room. Both sitting on the coffee table in human sized chairs with a human sized table between them. Cards was one of those things where it was hard to play with players at different scales.

The stakes were high in this game! If Sophia lost she would get eaten! So she was determined to win. Not because she wanted to avoid getting eaten, but to deprive Yonah of his prize. Even knowing he could eat her regardless, she knew he liked to feel as if he earned a treat.

“HA! A king! I go again!” Sophia drew a second card which she did not have to announce in order to progress with her turn. It was a Jack of Stars! Hell yeah! She discarded a 4 of Reeds into pile 3 and a 9 of Stars into pile 1. Still in her hand was the King of Spirals, the Jack of Stars, a Two of Diamonds, and a 4 of Diamonds. She sent a quick prayer to the gods of fortune as Yonah drew a card.

He examined it, he had an excellent FizzFace.

“I play this Jester,” he declared. This could change the entire game!

It was an Apprentice Jester, so not as chaotic a move as it could have been but still! Fuck! She held out her cards face down and he took one. Then he did the same. They both placed their cards facedown in front of them, they were not able to see what card was taken.

Then yonah chose two of the four piles, added the two cards and shuffled the piles together. He took his sweet time, doing a bunch of card tricks, no magic needed. Show-off. Sophia was never good at card tricks, and with Yonah’s oversized deck she could never, the cards didn’t fit her hands that way. She couldn’t even shuffle them!

Finally he dealt them each a new card and Sophia was able to look at her hand. Now she was the one who had to put on a FizzFace.

Playing a Jester didn’t count as a turn, Yonah still had to draw and discard.

“FIZZBIN!” Sophia yelled and flipped her cards:

King, Two, and a pair of Jacks.

A ROYAL FIZZBIN, an automatic win!

“Thanks for playing that Jester!” Sophia got up and hugged Yonah, who sighed and smiled. Aw well, he’d win next time for sure.

“Another round?” he gathered the cards and started shuffling, “Maybe best two out of three?”

The more they played the more likely he was to win at some point. But Sophia liked the idea of winning too. Even if there was no reward for her other than victory. If they were going to make this a game night, then it should be a game night!

“Yes but not Fizzbin, maybe Dragon’s Hoard?” if Yonah was so set on winning for winning sake, there was no better choice.

“That one is all luck of the deal! There’s no skill involved,” Yonah complained. Though as he did he thought that a 50% chance of random victory was appealing, but was a reward truly earned if he did nothing but get dealt the winning hand at the start?

“Elf’s Gambit then!”

“You’re too good at that one,” Yonah had no idea why but he’d never beaten her at Elf’s Gambit.

“Fine not a card game then-” Sophia stopped as Yonah sat up straight, and saw his big ears twitch every so slightly.

“A thief?” she didn’t hear anything but his hearing was astonishingly good. Even if he was currently physically reduced in stature, his senses were just as keen.

Yonah smiled, “just heard them hit the floor upstairs. I’ll be right back” he jumped off the table, returning to normal size, and went to the stairwell. Then turned back.

“Did you want to come with?”

Hmmmm. She kinda did. It would be a continuation of game night.

“No thanks, I’m good. Have fun!”

He disappeared upstairs and Sophia heard him say his classic line. Blah blah blah.

Damn, now that she came down from the minor high of winning Fizzbin she did kinda want to see what was going on. She climbed down to the floor. maybe she would get up stairs in time. Maybe.

She arrived at the workshop in time to see Yonah, sitting at his desk, smiling as he swallowed and the bulge in his throat fell away. A Few more swallows later his midsection filled out, and the wizard took a long couple of sighs.

It was… way too quiet. She got closer.

No screaming, no visible struggling. Had this been a slayer?! She approached and Yonah smiled down at her. No. His mood was too pleasant. Killing slayers always made him irritable for at least one night.

/Something funny was going on/ Sophia thought as Yonah lifted her onto the desk and poked at his stomach.

Now there was movement and Sophia’s heart rate returned to normal.

“I’m letting you out,” he informed whoever was in there.

“Wait already? Is everything- YIPE!”

Yonah didn’t let them finish their sentence as he hacked and heaved until he was red in the face and his throat swelled.

A pair of hands appeared at the front of his mouth and Yonah provided a finger for them to grasp. A well dressed young man with bright red hair and a smiling face full of freckles slid out of the giant’s mouth. Yonah set him down gently in between himself and Sophia. He stood up with Yonah’s hand for assistance.

While not freakishly tall he had a good foot over Sophia. He wiped his face, looked at the gobsmacked princess and then back to Yonah with a sparkly-eyed smile.

“Is that her?”

Yonah nodded and the man approached the princess.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness,” his voice was low, lower than Yonah’s, but infinitely softer. He spoke slowly, putting consideration into and savoring each choice of words.

Still processing, Sophia did not take his hand. His smile faltered a bit but looking at his hand; strings of drying mucus webbed between a few fingers. He laughed lightly, “Of course. Ah- I would not want to shake my hand either-”

“Oh! No,” she took his sticky hand. There was only one reason someone would be so happy after being eaten. “Yes, I am Sophia of Orr. And you’ve been here before haven’t you?” She glared at Yonah.

His smile fell, but not much, “Surely he’s mentioned me?”

“Must have slipped his mind,” Sophia smiled fakely at both men. Yonah rolled his eyes, though his cheeks had flushed a bit.

“But,” she said, “I think introductions can wait until you’ve washed up.” she almost wiped her hand on her tunic. Instead she cleaned it on Yonah’s sleeve. Yonah glowered And touched the man, casting prestidigitation. The smell still lingered but he was dry!

Sophia climbed onto Yonah’s shoulder to look down at the man who’s innocent face followed her. Crossing her arms she directed a very proper Royal Order at this mystery human.

“So, who the fuck are you?”

—

Dang. It had been a while since he took a proper breath! That was a sign he needed a break. That And his eyes stung from looking down at diagrams through a magnifying glass for so long.

Yonah marked the place in the book and went downstairs to make some tea. Maybe he would have a small mug of soup too. Something light but rejuvenating.

He had only just taken a sip of the tea and poured cold soup into a metal mup, preparing to heat it up in his hands, when he heard it.

CRASH! Clanky-clank-tink tink

That came from his Workshop. Abandoning his tea and soup he silently made his way upstairs. What he found nearly sent him into an explosive rage.

About a month ago King Ben’s Arcane Archeologists had unearthed some sort of device. About the size of a carriage, and made of precious alloys And spelled jewels. It was like a big puzzle box. The pieces slid and twisted. Not that anyone was stupid enough to try and solve it.

From the half-decipherable warnings, it was some sort of weapon, and it brought ruin to an ancient kingdom. While not functional it was full of magic. One of the rookie Archeologists had looked into one of the embedded jewels and had nightmares for 2 weeks. Someone else touched it with their bare hands and believed their hands to be made of butterflies until given a drought of 5 times distilled passion fruit gin with wing dust of fire cave moths.

Neither Ben nor his Archeologists wanted to deal with it after that. So it got sent to him.

This wasn’t because of his skill and knowledge as a wizard, it was because he was sturdy. he was resistant to whatever dream magic was leaking out of it. He could safely hold and examine it. And if he felt confident, attempt to solve it.

And he was… disposable. If went off and he died… well. That would be a small annoyance to the kingdom but ultimately not detrimental. It’s not like he was important to the prosperity of the kingdom in any way. He was just a quest point and guardian of magical items too dangerous for other mages to handle.

All this to say, it was that very device which had been pushed off its stand and lay in pieces.

It had not, thankfully, sent out a pulse across the forest, putting all the residents to sleep and condemning them to a shared nightmare curse that needed to be broken in a hundred years by some hero kissing awake a long lost heir who had been hidden away in The Woods since birth.

Nope. It had simply broke into a danger-zone of sharp metal and crystal across the floor.

The most intact section was by the table, and so was the human. They were wrenching off pieces of gold and prying out gems, for some reason ignoring the easily picked up debris behind them.

Weeks of work GONE! The shove of one human and it was all for NOTHING! And he would have to report this to the king! UGH! He had more than half a mind to kill this Jack.

As his stomach, already wanting from the still cold soup downstairs, rumbled in agreement the idea soured in his mind. No. He didn’t want or need a human as a meal. But the thought of eating this human, enjoying the flavor and getting to fill his belly with the wriggling panicking bastard, even temporarily, was keeping him from blowing up in anger. Smoke would be a dead giveaway, and this fucker, so focused on their task, deserved a good scare.

——

The shadow fell across him and his heart nearly stopped. This could only mean one thing.

“Hello little one,” a low rumble fell upon him like an avalanche.

“Oh don’t be so surprised. With that crash I would have heard you from 3km away.”

Not even bothering to turn around he bolted towards the window.

And immediately fell over in agony as his pants snagged on a sharp bit of metal which sliced into his left calf. A second later giant fingers wrapped around his waist and lifted him up.

“I supposed I should get the formalities over with” said the giant.

If he was screaming before he forgot as the Giant’s voice blasted him like a blank canon shot.

“FEE FI FO FUM, I SMELL THE BLOOD OF THE HUMAN KIND, IT MATTERS NOT THE THINGS YOU STOLE, I’VE CAPTURED YOU AND WILL SWALLOW YOU WHOLE!”

When he opened his eyes he looked into glowing orange ones! The giants hair also glowed And smoked from the roots. The Giant was indeed dressed as the wizard who must surely live in this tower. But all of these things were trivial.

No no no no no!!! Eaten!!! He couldn’t get eaten!!!

The giant walked over to his desk and sat down.

“I’ll make this quick ok? Though you deserve a slow and agonizing death for this.”

Now he was shoved, face first, into the drooling maw. The tongue drew across his chest and face, forcing him to bump into the teeth as the giant gleefully tasted him.

He tried to fight it, but space was almost nil! He could elbow the cheeks but that achieved nothing and placed his arms between the teeth! So he tried to wrestle the tongue. Scratching, punching, wrapping his arms around and squeezing when it lifted up one time. Oof the bottom front teeth pressed into his chest before the tongue broke free of his flimsy hold and slipped between them.

Then it pulled him back! And gravity shifted as he slid to the throat. The rough surface of the tongue gave way to the slick walls of the esophagus as he was engulfed.

The crushing was nearly unbearable! He couldn’t BREATHE! The worst part was when there was a terrific pounding from in front of him as he passed by the heart. And it was slow going. The Giant was making sure he got to savor every moment of flavor, and Jake wished he could cry out as the tongue brushed over his wound. His legs were fully in the giant’s mouth now, about to be sucked into the throat with the rest of him.

As that happened, his arms and face breached into the stomach. The first breath of “air” was filled with despair and death. Before his knees were free from the esophagus he had completely filled the space, but it stretched to easily fit the rest of him.

Not that the air was pushed out, thank fuck, so there was some space to move around.

“Let! me! go!!”

—

A bit of the human’s blood mixed with spit dribbled down his chin. While Yonah preferred smallfolk to be uninjured, the human wasn’t bleeding out, so it didn’t bother him. It was a minor laceration and blood didn’t taste bad at all. 

And even with such a wound this human fought so wonderfully! Quite a performance against his tongue, letting him really experience Jack’s flavor.

Now the Jack was sitting comfortably in his stomach. Well, Jack was probably uncomfortable. Yonah was the one with a smile on his face. This human wasn’t exactly big but he was tall, a nice size to struggle and stretch.

When he was done giving his full attention to savoring the struggles and had licked away the remnants of flavor, he let a piece of his mind tune into the human’s pleas.

Jack was attempting to bargain for his life.

“I don’t know if you realized this; but destroying a magical relic under study by a royal wizard with a taste for smallfolk was very very stupid.” Yonah informed his guest, “I guess I got a treat out of it. Though one little snack, no matter how delicious, cannot equal the loss of knowledge and history”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!!” Jack insisted.

“Gods your pathetic! And you’re wasting your precious air,” Yonah rubbed at his stomach and sighed with delight as Jack protested.

He ignored all subsequent remarks, responding only with pats to his belly or pressing in his fingers.

Until Jack’s voice cracked. “PLEAAESE!!! IT’S STARTING TO HURT! MISTER WIZARD I BEG OF YOU! DON’T DO THIS!”

Yonah gave Jack a very forceful shove, “I really should though. Besides ruining priceless research, you tasted so good, and fill my belly so perfectly.”

Jack cried. It was about time. thieves normally broke down long before now. And Yonah knew it was time to get him out.

“But I’m not.”

Jack stopped crying.

—-

Before he could fully register the statement the angry walls convulsed around him, his leg burned and stabbed his brain with white hot pain as the rest of his skin stung and itches horribly. The air which was soon to be depleted for oxygen was now forced out, followed by him!

The retching sounds of the giant were muffled but carried so much hope and relief. Even as he fell onto the rough wooden desk, the fresh air and lack of impending death was as sweet as fresh honey.

He didn’t care that he was picked up again for he was carried to the window.

“Thank you!” he was still crying. “Thank you - for sparing me!”

That made the giant angry again

“I almost didn’t!” spat the Giant, “All that work WORTHLESS! THANKS TO YOU! And now I get to tell King Ben that his relic got broken, and I let the one who did it get away! Do not forget my kindness today for you do not deserve it!”

The Giant leaned in close and growled hot air over me.

“Now, Get out of my sight before I change my mind, Little tasty one.”

Aching, burning, still bleeding, He descended the vines and without a look back, gave himself to the mercy of the Woods.

Which was considerable mercy today! It was only about 20 minutes of limp-running before he knew he was no longer in the magical, dangerous, Mystic Woods. It was safe now to find a stream and clean himself and most importantly his wound.

Once that was done it was time to get home. Sure he had no treasure but he was lucky enough to get away with his life!

It was nightfall when he got to the cottage at the edge of town, and his mother burst through the door followed by his little sister.

“JAKE! Where have you been!!! Gods around what happened to you!”

Jake’s skin was almost as red as his hair.

“Sunburn” he said, voice hoarse.

—-

This was possibly the stupidest thing he had EVER done.

The guilt over the last week had gotten so bad it was making Jake sick.

He had not only failed to steal from a giant to feed his family, he had broken something important! Something valuable! He had really made that giant mad. And if the Giant was to be believed, he, Jake, got off easy. It was the giant who would feel the wrath of the Mystic King.

He had to do something. It was a long shot, but maybe he could fix the device!

All he had to do was sneak back into the tower to examine it, somehow make money for parts, learn how to make the parts, and get tools to make and implement them… and learn magic to Enchant the gems and metal. Oh and money for the gems too…

This would involve many more trips to that tower. Eventually he should be able to avoid the giant. And hopefully he wouldn’t be eaten if caught.

Stupid. Immesurably stupid.

He was caught.

Not before finding the device. Downstairs in a storage room in a crate. Not before making a few notes. He had come prepared with pen and parchment. Not before finding some loose gems and coins. Exactly what he needed to buy parts! He had everything he needed, and he could leave!

That was when he was found and once again swallowed whole.

“Please!!! Don’t kill me!!!” He begged, even though knew that this was a possible outcome he was not ok with dying! Being trapped in the giant’s gut was just as bad as the first time!! Just as slimy, just as confining, just as…

Huh!?

For some reason the giant spat him back out again!

Jake was so stunned It wasn’t until he was back in the forest that he realized the Giant hadn’t recognized him.

Then he realized he was clutching something in his hands. Something he had not brought with him. The giant had taken the treasure Jake found, but had given him a purse of gold coins!

WHAT THE FUCK? Jake couldn’t begin to imagine why.

Fortunately, the giant had not taken his notes!

Unfortunately the notes were ruined by stomach fluids. Shit. Well. He would wait at least a week or two before going back.

That depended on if-when he could get a waterproof folder. If by two weeks he could he would simply hide the notes in the tower and get them later. Somehow.

It only took him a week, but he wanted to plan this out, so it was a week and 4 days before he returned to the tower.

Thankfully the money the giant had given him meant he didn’t need to do odd jobs to help put food on the table! And there was a reasonable amount left so even if he failed… well. He wouldn’t fail!

—

This was the third thief in a MONTH!

Though Yonah wasn’t really ready to complain or get suspicious just yet. If life wanted to send him treats who was he to question it?

A half-giant who loved the taste of smallfolk, thats who. Not one to question it at all. And this human was delicious! He spent a while licking the human before even putting him in his mouth, where he continued to run his tongue over Jack’s body.

This one had given him a good chase! He was impressed. That And for tasting so good and the fantastic internal massage, he decided to give this Jack a nicer reward.

He liked that this one hadn’t screamed the entire time. That hurt his sensitive giant ears. Instead he swore and demanded to be let go. Such gumption! Ahhhh whatever this Jack was doing, he was stretching out his stomach to the max and it felt so good!

He told Jack this and Jack snarled back at him.

—-

Well, Jake guessed that third time wasn’t the charm! He was caught AGAIN! No way he was going to be lucky a third time and- holy shit!

For the third time the giant hacked him out, sparing his life.

He rolled over to look up at the happy to be angry giant wiping the spittle from his goatee. He was on the desk in the Workshop, the giant had eaten him downstairs in the kitchen, which connected to the storage room.

“Thank you- mister- I don’t think I-

“The name’s Yonah, and you better be welcome. Do you know how awful it is to spit up a human! Fucking sucks! Anyways, thanks for the little diversion from my work, I would appreciate it if you kindly fucked off.”

Once again the giant tossed him a coin purse! This one heavier than the last! Also did the giant. Yonah, still not recognize him?! The attitude of the giant was not the same as either other times.

The first time he had been furious. Understandable. But the second time it felt like something practiced.

And this time he seemed a bit more playful. Like a cat with a mouse, but had gotten bored and dropped the act once he was done playing. Maybe because Jake was getting better at prolonging capture.

Oh well. It had worked out in the end. He had notes and more importantly he had MONEY! Money to buy tools and parts and training!

He ran home and bought an apprenticeship with a local metallurgist. Soon to be 19 was a bit old to start, but the Master in town quickly changed his tune when presented with Jake’s diagrams of the device. And the gold coins.

It was time to get learning.

—-

Gods there was no avoiding this damn wizard!

This was what? The sixth time he’d visited Yonah? Jake kept returning every two weeks or so, and while he kind of enjoyed the little game (which the giant didn’t know he was a player in), getting eaten was never fun.

Jake had decided after the fourth time he would see how long it would take for the giant to remember him. Part of him hoped it would never happen and he would get to waltz into the tower one day, finish his work, and announce his presence and what he had done.

Also after the fourth time swallowed and spat up, Jake didn’t think this giant was actually as man-eating as he claimed in all the villainous declarations. For whatever reason, Yonah never followed through on his threat.

The track record was now 6 for 6. If Yonah was a killer it was either so infrequent or Jake was a statistical anomaly.

Still, Jake tried a new plan to get away without being found, or at least a way to win the chase game. None of his strategies had been successful.

Just to play along Jake made sure to scream and struggled as if he still believed he was going to die.

At least he was never found until he was trying to sneak out. It would ruin the game if he was caught with all of his notes and supplies! Or if the parts he brought were ruined by stomach fluids.

However, Jake nearly fucked it all up on the sixth visit. He just didn’t have the energy to continue fighting the giant from the inside so after a minute he relaxed. He’d be let out soon and he wanted to catch his breath.

That was a mistake.

“HEY!” The voice of the wizard shook him, physically prodding at him. “You better not be dead! I aint done with you!”

Ok. Now this was different. Normally Yonah taunted him with his “inevitable” demise. He never checked in on him. And that was what Yonah was doing. The phrasing was an attempt at malice but to the not-scared-out-of-his-mind-Jake, Yonah failed to hide the genuine concern. He wondered what could have brought this mood. Maybe he should ask!

Then he remembered he was pretending to never have been through this.

—-

The abrupt change from pleasant thrashing to no movement at all brought Yonah out of his light torpor. He hoped Jack hadn’t fainted, he had not yet recovered enough to spit the human back out. An unconscious human could easily drown… Yonah was reasonably aware of how much fluid accumulated while his victims sat waiting to be released.

Yonah relaxed when Jack moved again, retaliating against his fingers which pressed into his gut.

“NOT YET. I was simply er planning my next move. I will get out of here.”

Where had all this spunk come from? The kicks and punches were much stronger than before. The Jack’s confidence was a bit worrying, Yonah was sure he had disarmed Jack properly.

“Oh, I don’t think you will, Not much you can do against my stomach.”

It gurgled a bit and Yonah smiled, “I think it likes you.”

“Well… I hate it.”

“Awwww come on now. You fit so perfectly in it, like you were made for each other.”

There was no response so Yonah figured it was time to wrap it up. “Such a shame to break up the happy couple.”

——

If Jake had to he honest, even if the stomach would eventually kill him, getting spit back up was the worst part. Fluids came with him and the pressure was (for some gods awful reason) much greater than when being swallowed.

Once he was spat out Jake took stock of his surroundings. Still in the kitchen, on the table. His things were scattered about. He gathered his things, mocking panic. Then he turned to see the giant studying him. Had he done something to give away his rouse?

“Why… why did you let me go?” Jake asked in his best ‘oh fuck please don’t kill me for asking’ voice.

Yonah licked his lips and Jake didn’t have to fake a cringing response.

“Dunno. Maybe I’m not feeling it today. Maybe you just seemed so sad I would feel bad if you met your end in me.” The giant sighed and the hot breath dried the sticky fluids. Yech! “I don’t much like killing the poor ones who are obviously being forced by their shitty parents to risk becoming my meal trying to earn one for themselves. Unless, that’s not your situation. I can just finish the job, little one. ”

Wow. Did he really exude that much patheticness? But Jake didn’t let Yonah see his drop in self esteem. Instead he brightened.

“No no. I’m grateful. Uh- I’ll get out of your hair now,”

“Please do.” Yonah sat there as Jack climbed down the table and made his way to the stairs.

A grumble came from behind him. Then footsteps. A moment later Yonah had scooped him up, carrying him to the window in record time. “I wasn’t gonna watch you climb stairs for 15 minutes.”

Then the Giant’s eyes flashed, very briefly.

“Wait here, I forgot something.”

He ran back downstairs.

Jake sat down, looking out the window. He had never lingered in the garden, and it was a stunning sight from above. Organized in patterns and colors, the meticulously kept plants flourished under the Giant’s care.

“Still here?”

Jake spun around as Yonah returned.

“Why… wouldn’t I?”

“Most flee at the first chance they get.”

“But you told me- I didn’t think it smart to disobey you,” Which for anyone else would have been the truth. Jake on the other hand hadn’t even considered running.

Yonah accepted this reasoning, “well, be glad you stayed. here, for your trouble.”

Ah! Right, the gold. Jake caught the purse that Yonah tossed towards him. He bowed before climbing down.

—-

It just wasn’t fucking worth it was it.

If he managed to avoid capture he would have to get out of the tower himself! And he would have to find another source of funds for the project. Yes, he knew where Yonah kept some coin and unEnchanted jewels, of course he had tried that a few times. Each time it was during that attempt when he was discovered.

It wasn’t worth genuinely trying to escape.

It was just so much easier to get caught, get eaten, get spit up, and be given money. And Yonah would carry him back upstairs! Either while still in his stomach or afterwards. Regardless, it was considerably less work for Jake.

So by the seventh visit, He let Yonah catch him.

But there was another reason.

He finally had the know-how to start repairing the device. Up until now he was only examining it.

In addition to having to make fresh pieces on site, which was difficult and took forever, The magic of this thing was gods fucking bananas! Connecting certain pieces would induce visions, which he had to resist and ride out. Some were more convincing than others, that he forgot where he was and nearly got lost in the fiction.

This had occurred while picking it apart, but unless he touched the gems the side effects were much less intense. It had made taking a gem back for study impossible. He wasn’t very magical, no one in his village was. That was a bridge he would eventually cross. Shaping the metal pieces didn’t take magic. Not much at least. Nothing too difficult to learn, and Jake had applied himself rigorously.

To maximize his time he snuck into to tower in the morning and planned to “sneak” out at night. Rather than just a few hours later. With all of the components and materials he carried with him, he couldn’t bring much food, and stealing any risked early discovery!

All of this left him exhausted.

He should really plan better.

This is what he realized the ninth visit, when he passed out in the crate.

And woke up to The now familiar but no less alarming:

FEE FI FO FUM, I SMELL THE BLOOD OF THE HUMAN KIND, IT MATTERS NOT THE THINGS YOU STOLE, I’LL CAPTURE YOU AND WILL SWALLOW YOU WHOLE

SHIT! Time to go! And no time to gather his notes. He had enough familiarity to know what to bring next time. He would definitely bring supplies and just leave it here, that would make things much easier!

But that was next time, he was dealing with the big bad giant now.

Fuck. he was so tired. Even the adrenaline from Yonah’s shout he was barely keeping his eyes open. His brain felt so sour and heavy with sleep And lists And diagrams and figures and plans.

Better to get it over with.

His sleepy brain ran him right into Yonah’s hands. Sturdy, rough yet plush, warm hands. No wait he’s supposed to be scared! The terror he managed to muster was very half-hearted. He just flopped over the fingers.

“Ah- no- dont eat me-”

—-

That sounded sarcastic. Why had this Jack given up so easily. Did he have a deathwish? He hated those types. Admittedly, none of them really wanted to die once they spent a few minutes in his stomach. However it was not a constructive way to dissuade suicidal aspiration, and he wasn’t in a position to get them help afterwards.

This Jack didn’t seem suicidal. He seemed, unphased. Yonah brought him to his face. Jack just closed his eyes and breathed softly. Or maybe he was just sleepy.

Yonah flicked him gently in the face “Hey! Don’t fall asleep, Im eating you!”

“Wha-?” Jack sputtered awake.

That was enough for Yonah, he just wanted to make sure Jack hadn’t fainted. With great enthusiasm he proceeded to eat the human. A bit disappointed by Jack’s performance; no struggle at all! Yonah decided that the proper punishment was to take his time tasting Jack. 

And this one tasted pretty damn good. Though something nagged at him. It was impossible to give that any attention as he swallowed the thief, concentrating on the suffocating pain. Once the thief was out of his throat and in his stomach it hit him.

It took a few seconds for him to process it and his mind reeled, his heart pounded.

“You!! You rotten- you little shit, I recognize your taste!”

The thief was still not struggling. As far as Yonah could tell, he moved around until he was comfortable. THE NERVE!

“Should I be concerned you didn’t recognize my face?”

Yonah ignored the question. He was so furious!

“I thought I made it clear that my generosity and mercy is a one time thing!” He poked Jack so hard that Jack yelped.

“Are you going to digest me! Please, I-”

“No! No…” Yonah rubbed at panicking human in his stomach, “I’m not going to kill you.”

Blinking away the rage-distortion he made his way to the living room. He did his best to stomp down the stairs, and flopped down forcefully into his armchair. If only he wasn’t so upset, he couldn’t fully appreciate Jack’s terror at being tossed about .

“How many times?” He looked down as his stomach as if to see Jack speaking. There was some movement as Jack thought about the answer.

“Um, including this time, 9.”

“NINE TIMES!” Yonah bellowed. His hair started to smoke and his glasses fogged up.

There had been 11 thieves in the last 3 months when it’s usually once or twice a month. Thrice if the gods found him lucky and deserving. He had been worried that a rumor had been spread of a giant who gave thieves money after eating them. But no, it was really three thieves. At least that was a relief. Not that it was good that one HAD figured out he was merciful more often than not.

“This scam stops now! I’m not giving you anymore money!” He poked at his stomach and Jack kicked back at him. “And I’d better not see your face around here again!”

-[I DON’T KNOW WHY BUT AT THIS PART I STOPPED LIMITING/SWITCHING THE POV! It’s just both now!!!] -

“I- I wasn’t scamming you,” Jake insisted. He was starting to get concerned about how long he had been in the wizard’s stomach. Was it normally so hot? He should be sweating but it was so wet and slimy he couldn’t be sure.

“Really?” Yonah didn’t believe him, and had no reason to, “Because it seems like you figured to use me like some weird benefactor who gives out money to people I eat!”

Oh, so he does this for everyone. Where did he get the money? Jake thought. Surely this wasn’t a sustainable system, just handing bags of gold to thieves!

“I’m not as clever as you think. I’m not even here for money. ”

“Then why the fuck did you keep breaking into my tower!?”

He really wanted to get out soon. It was sweltering and his skin was itching something fierce. At least he wasn’t wanting for air. Usually by this time he had worked himself up pretending to be scared, using up precious oxygen. Still, best not to waste breath.

“The device, I don’t know what it is. But I broke it my first time here. YAH.”

Yonah stood up and stormed to the storage closet. At least that was on the same floor.

“If you’ve been messing with my shit-!” he growled as he pulled out the crate, knelt beside it, and, using his eyes, illuminated the contents.

The device was still there, not surprising, it was large. But it was all there. As far as he could tell, Jack had not been slowly taking pieces of it. And he would have noticed if that was the case. He would have found scrap metal and magic crystals on Jack, right? He couldn’t recall any thieves with more than a pouch of random coins and a few normal gems.

What halted his tirade was everything else.

Strewn around the crate were pieces of the device, what could only be a bunch of odd looking tools, and a small platform that one could use as a workbench. Pieces of parchment were everywhere, on the bench, the bottom of the crate, and tacked on the sides! He couldn’t see the details of the scribbles, his vision was too distorted by his now dwindling rage. However, it was obvious what Jake had been up to.

“You… You’ve been sneaking in to fix it?” He let out a heavy painful breath.

Jake scrambled to his knees, pounding at the front of the stomach.

“Yeah… I felt kinda bad so- YIPE.”

Careful to not spit Jack up and into the device he caught the human in his hands. Jack recovered quickly and looked Yonah in the eyes. Blinking in the light, Jack smiled nervously at him. 

“You must be the dumbest thief i’ve ever eaten.”

Jake didn’t know how to take that. And didn’t have much chance to respond as the Giant stood up and took him back to the kitchen. Jake practically jumped out of Yonah’s hands once Yonah had filled the sink with warm water.

He’d never gotten a chance to clean off before leaving! It felt so good to be rid of the stinking And previously stinging fluids. He could have done without the giant watching him like one would watch a pet mouse groom.

“So,” Jake said, once he was clean and being dried off in a rough towel, “Why am I so dumb?”

It was hard for Jake to register Yonah’s answer as the Giant was very handsy with the towel. It wasn’t necessary for the giant to do this.. jake could try himself off… but he wasn’t about to protest. As nice as the Giant was…

“I’ve caught you each time…” he said, gently rubbing The Jack’s hair with a section of cloth, “ATE you each time!” He pressed the towel into Jack’s back, patting him dry, “and you weren’t even stealing anything! I’m just… Why did you put up with it?” He put his arms on the counter and head in his arms, face to face with Jack.

Before Jake could answer Yonah blew a stream of foul smelling hot air to finish the job. He waited for Jake to check himself over and calm his hair.

“I kinda liked the idea of it being a surprise,” Jake shrugged, “And you seemed to like chasing me around, and I know you like eating me.”

It was Yonah’s turn to chuckle uncomfortably, he couldn’t deny he definitely liked both of those things. “But… weren’t you scared that I might not let you go? Or that I might just mess up and hurt you?”

“Sure I was, but after the third time you… spit me up… I figured that was just par for the course and you seemed to know what you were doing; it wasn’t worth the effort to avoid it.”

“So you were letting me catch you! I knew it!”

“Yeah but just because I didn’t… didnt want tooooooahhhhh…. climb up the stairs,” said Jake before yawning so wide his jaw popped.

“Tired?”

“Been here all…. *yawn* all day, I snuck in at dawn.”

That… that was a long time. No wonder the kid was tired! Not just tired, if he’d been here since morning…

“You must be starving!”

Jake blinked, “I… brought some food.”

Yonah picked up the human, placed him on his shoulder, and wheeled around to gesture at the kitchen, and then opened the door to the pantry. It had a decent stock of food,“one of the perks of being a giant is I always have plenty to share with visiting smallfolk!”

He walked to the back of the pantry and pressed his hand on the wall.

Then there wasn’t a wall. Or there was but it was made of silver mist.

“Oh” Jack gasped, and Yonah quickly snatched him into his hands.

His warm hands. Held against the wizard’s warm chest. Oh. It was… soft, in the embrace. Kinda like the wizard’s insides but way less deadly. Or rather, more controlled. The wizard’s massive hands could snap him in half, but that was up to the wizard. His stomach would punish you for staying there too long unless he intervened, the hands… Jake could stay forever in these hands.

And good thing too! The room they were in was COLD. And dark. Yonah’s eyes produced a warm glow that failed to pierce the darkness.

Until he purposefully set them ablaze making them into two beams of bright orange torchlight. Projecting through the wizard’s glasses.

The room was full of jars! Just jars upon jars, and in one corner a small arrangement of meats.

Yonah picked out one of the jars. A rather small one, but still bigger than Jake.

“I made this lamb stew last week, gotta eat it soon or it will go bad, do you like lamb stew?” He turned his eyes on the human who shielded his eyes from the light.

“Uh, Yes.”

He still clung to Yonah’s hands as they left the cold storage, the mist turning back to stone. And then left the pantry.

Even out of the cold, Jake was perfectly content to remain held by the giant. He curled up into the elbow, leaning into the pillow-like chest. And fell asleep immediately.

Yonah looked down in surprise as the human snuggled up to him. Just like… just like his friends did. Jack was that comfortable with him? He supposed after being eaten 9 times, this Jack felt pretty safe around him. Good. He liked that.

Since he was just reheating stew he didn’t need two hands. He could get out a pot, light the stove, he had to use magic to open the jar but that was the only instance. Ok he lit the fire with a snap of his fingers, but he always did that! Oh, and a simple charm on a Spoon to stir the pot.

With one free hand he was able to set the table. Both his set and the human sized set, which included a second table (and chair) placed upon his.

“Hey, little one,” Yonah cooed, jostling his arm slightly. The human gasped from his snooze. For a moment Jack looked fearful, as if he forgot what had happened, until he looked into the bark brown eyes of the handsome half-giant, and the scent of stewed meat met his nostrils.

“You can continue to sleep after dinner,” Yonah said, setting the human on the table, indicating the smaller place setting.

The stew was more vegetables and grain than lamb, but he supposed getting enough meat to feed a Giant wasn’t easy. It was very spicy but Jake liked it a lot! He still had to take a drink of The incredibly sweet wine Yonah had served after nearly every bite.

By the time he had finished he wasn’t sure he was still awake. Yonah, who drank most of the wine, looked tired too.

Wordlessly Yonah picked him up, and Jake fell into his hands. Asleep before they even reached the bedroom.

If Yonah hadn’t had the alcohol he might have prepared a bed for Jack. However he did have alcohol so Yonah quickly changed into a nightgown and got into bed. He placed the human by his face, on his pillow, and wrapped an arm protectively around the small form. Jack’s scent permeated his senses but he resisted licking the human by falling asleep a few seconds later.

—

Jake awoke in an unfamiliar place. He awoke next to a giant’s face! He awoke inside a giant’s embrace!

The giant! He. He had slept… in his arms!? Like some kind of doll. Jake wasn’t sure how he felt about that. But he knew he felt rejuvenated. That had been the best night’s sleep he’d had in quite a while. The Giant was certainly much less scary when he wasn’t pretending to kill him, even if his face was pressed into Jake’s side. The facial hair was kinda itchy, but Jake didn’t dare move. He didn’t want to move!

Even though he wasn’t tired he was so comfortable, that and he definitely didn’t want to wake the giant up. He was kinda trapped under the giant’s rather prodigious nose. He couldn’t hope to get out of this hold without waking Yonah up.

That would certainly earn him another trip down into Yonah’s stomach. Jake was certain Yonah would spit him up, but getting eaten twice in less than 25 hours did not appeal to him.

So he lay there.

Thankfully it wasn’t long before the giant started to wake. Jake scrambled out of his arms and stood wobbling on the uneven bedspread.

He watched the giant stretch and yawn, mouth stretching even wider than when he’d eaten Jake.

“Oh fuck,” the Giant said as he put on his glasses, “I meant to make you a bed.”

“It’s alright” Jake assured him, “I slept great.”

Now it was Jakes to turn observe as Yonah magically swapped his nightgown for fresh set of robes. Just as brightly colored and garishly patterned as the other 9 outfits Jake had seen.

Yonah noticed Jake watching. “I’m not going to just change in front of you!” He half squat by his bed, hands on his knees.

“I don’t know if you had plans today, I was going to make breakfast.”

Jake had to be at the metallurgist’s an hour past sunrise.

“I just gotta be home by sundown. If I’m missing for two nights my mom will start to worry.”

He stepped onto Yonah’s outstretched palm.

After breakfast Yonah took Jake and the crate with the device to the Workshop. He cleared off his spare bench and carefully laid out the device and the broken pieces. Jake took out all of notes which Yonah wanted to take a look at under his magnifying glass.

“For 3 months work starting from absolutely nothing, this is impressive!”

“What do you mean?”

Yonah looked down at Jake.

“I mean, Jack, that for someone who had never worked with mechanical contraptions let alone magical ones until a few months ago, you actually started to make little progress on this in an incredibly short amount of time!”

“I used the money you’ve been giving me to train with a metallurgist…” Jake was a bit annoyed that he made so little progress but he was distracted by something else the giant had said.

“Did you just call me ‘Jack?’”

“That’s your name isn’t it?”

“I never told you my name,”

“Thieves are always named Jack.” Yonah said as if it were some universal truth.

“Well my name is Jake, uh, Silverman” He held out his hand.

“Silverman, and you have a talent for metal work?” The wizard laughed.

“Yonah, HaEsh,” Yonah took the hand in a finger and thumb.

“I know, you told me,”

“Did I?”

“Not your last name.” Jake held onto Yonah’s finger, “You’re laughing at mine but yours is The Fire. A bit on the nose for someone with fire powers.”

“Touché.” Yonah freed his finger by poking Jake’s middle.

“Now that I am aware of your little project it’s sure to go much quicker, much smoother, and actually get finished” he said looking at the notes again.

It took Jake nearly a minute to process.

“Finish? You… want to work with me?”

Yonah nodded but didn’t look at him. “I’m not so good with detailed tinkering. If you don’t continue, it’s likely The Machine would just end up sitting here long after I, and whoever takes over after me, and whoever comes after them, are long dead.”

Now he looked at Jake again, his eyes flashed for a second, “And you do want to fix your mistake, right?”

“Y-yes… I do!”

Yonah nodded, “Without my help you never would have, and with it you won’t die in the process.”

“Die?” Jake’s heart skipped a beat, “would you have-“

Yonah gave him a strange look as Jake finished “killed me…”

The giant smiled, showing off his rather large canine teeth. For all Yonah looked human, there were a few easily missed giantfolk-ish traits.

“Probably not,” he started examining the device itself, “but your metallurgist master is not a magician are they?”

Jake looked at his feet, “No.”

“Would have been a fun mystery for me when I found your body, though not so difficult as long as your notes were intact…”

Yonah turned to Jake with a stern teacher stare.

“This thing is dangerous and powerful, you’re lucky you’re still in one piece as it is. Or you’re a natural artificer,” Yonah said, giving all of his attention to Jake.

“An artificer?” Jake had never heard of such a thing.

“A specialist who works with magical items,” Yonah explained.

Jake quite liked that. Silverman the Artificer! Had a nice ring to it.

“So,” Yonah said, “Can I expect to see you again soon?”

———

“And that’s how we became friends!”

Yonah concluded.

“You forgot to add that I am an artificer now.” Jake added, “I travel around the world in search of artifacts to study, and I make my own. I’m Yonah’s supplier of precious metals and gems.”

Sophia had listened with rapt attention as Yonah and Jake told the story. She and Jake were now sitting on Yonah’s chest as he lay on his couch in the living room. She had resisted asking asking questions until the end. Now she leaned back against Yonah’s left hand and tried to look as philosophical as she could.

“Did you finish fixing the device?”

Jake’s pale face turned an amusing shade of red.

“I’m actually still searching for parts, it’s why I’m an explorer now.”

“Probably for the best,” Yonah said, using his right hand to stroke’s Jake back, “We need to know more about it first.”

“You mean it’s HERE IN THE TOWER STILL!”

“Of course it is,” Yonah poked her shoulder, “this is still the most secure place. I just moved it to.”

“No, don’t tell me,” She knew exactly how much self control she had and it wasn’t enough to stop her from doing something stupid. “I don’t want to know,” she lied.

“How often do you make it out here?” Sophia asked, “I’ve been here for nearly a year!”

Not that Yonah didn’t have a tendency to not tell her shit about his life. He seemed to like having her discover pieces of his social network one at a time.

“I used to aim for once a month, but with all my traveling it’s been whenever I can for a few years now. Also I called on the mirror many times! He mentioned you, I’m really surprised he didn’t tell you about me.”

“I’m not, Yonah likes to keep me out of the loop,” Sophia huffed, “regardless, on these, visits, he… he eats you… every time?” time to get to the important stuff, like how Yonah has a secret friend snack that he neglected to mention!

“Pretty much. Back when working on the machine I was here a few days a week and sometimes we would play games of chase. If he caught me he would eat me, and he always wins. But as my visits became less frequent I started sneaking back in and letting him find me. It’s just our thing now.” he winked at Yonah who’s face had slowly been turning crimson. Sophia giggled.

Jake sighed, recalling the last five years.

“I know it’s stupid, but I kinda like it. I kinda missed it,” Jake mused, “Sure it’s stupidly dangerous, it’s a giant’s stomach after all. But for the few minutes im there it’s nice. Very warm, soft padding…”

“If you’re trying to suggest I let him eat me,” Sophia glowered with a smile up at Yonah, “he does, all the time.”

Jake’s eyes didn’t widen but his they did spark as his brows raised with interest, “Does he now? He risks the life of the princess he is sworn to protect?”

“No, he risks your life,” she said with pride, and climbed up to Yonah’s shoulder. He turned his face to peck her side and give her a little lick, “This bastard cursed me so I can’t die when he eats me.”

“It’s much more generally beneficial than that!” Yonah protested. “I engineered a partial curse that allows her transform into indestructible glass for four hours. There’s plenty of situations where that can save your Royal Behind. Like the attack on Ilana’s wedding, or when you wandered off into the forest and attacked by those suspiciously normal wolves!”

“Sure, sure” she waved away his words, “but you still did it so you could eat me,” Sophia sat down and let him kiss her face but put her arm out as he went for a second taste. She didn’t want to wash her hair a second time today.

“Wow, can he do that to me?”

He could, but after he explained the process Jake decided he didn’t want to waste all that money. And Yonah agreed, so far there had been no problems with getting Jake spat out safely for years. There was no reason to add extra protection, it would only be if Jake wanted his stays in Yonah’s stomach to last longer than five minutes.

While Jake had planned to show Yonah his latest finds, after telling the story and making a new friend, he could wait. He and Sophia spent the next hour chatting as Yonah prepared dinner. Yonah always prepared something fresh and at least slightly new when Jake popped in.

Sophia found that Jake wasn’t just Yonah’s supplier. Because of his connection to Yonah, Jake dealt with many of her father’s mages and Yonah’s friends. He quickly became in-demand. But he always saved the best stuff for Yonah to look at before any other buyers.

Most of the time Yonah didn’t even pay Jake.Jake may be good at working with magical items and not exploding, and had learned a decent amount of magic, but he couldn’t hope to achieve Yonah’s level of skill or power. So Yonah paid in enchantments and spelled gems which Jake incorporated into his crafts.

Sometimes Jake would stay for a week or more depending on the spells he needed. And after being away for a year they had a lot of work to do.

“This sounds like the perfect time to teach me about magic gems!”

Sophia told Yonah over dinner.

“I don’t know if you’re ready for that. You’ve only just gotten a handle on basic enchantments,” Yonah said.

Sophia pouted.

“It can’t hurt, I have some simple spells I need put into some crystals,” Jake suggested and Yonah shot him a fiery glare. Jake was unphased, “what else is she to do? This will be several hours a day.”

“Maybe she can just sit in my stomach?” Yonah chose that moment to take a large bite of bread and swallow very loudly.

“Oh, Yonah, you wouldn’t,” Jake looked from Yonah to Sophia, but there was no actually animosity between the two. Sophia just rolled her eyes.

“He’d like to, I’m sure. You’ve known him for years, you know he’s a dumbass glutton. But he also knows I won’t stand for it.”

Yonah grinned, then to Jake, “Instructing her while we work will take time. How long can you stay?”

“I am able to stay as long as necessary.” Jake smiled warmly, “I’ve been gone for so long on work, this will be like a vacation.

“A vacation where you do more work?” Sophia asked, but Jake and Yonah laughed.

—-

After dinner, Jake took a bath while Yonah and Sophia cleaned up. She was practicing cleaning spells on dirty dishes. Or rather, spells that could be used for cleaning. Like create and manipulate water, leveraging large objects. Etc. She was… pretty terrible at it. She always broke a few things. No big deal with repair spells on hand.

Yonah was very patient with her. He knew that it was relatively easy for the mind to use magic to pick things up that hey body could normally. Because one knew how it should feel to pick such things up. Anything larger was extremely difficult. It took a lot of practice.

It made doing the dishes take forever. And Sophia got nervous when Jake got back. Not so used to having someone else watch her fuck up.

“So what will we be looking at tomorrow?” Sophia asked Jake as they all settled into bed.

For the first night at least, they were all sleeping in the same bed, tucked under Yonah’s arms against his chest. Though Jake had marveled at Sophia’s grand bird cage bedroom with its padded hammock bed.

“Oh. Something very special. I found it buried in the infinity dunes of the wondrous desert, a snake charm.”

“Infinity dunes! No wonder you were gone for a year!”

“Yeah, see, only a few weeks had passed for me, but months had gone by outside. Anyways. Snake. Pendant. It has impressively large emerald eyes. I wish I had found more treasures.”

“All those weeks/months and all you found was one charm?”

“Yeah, though I acquired many unique items in the various cities through trade…”

They continued back and forth for a few minutes before Yonah grumbled at them.

“I thought we were going to sleep” he didn’t open his eyes, but a very dim orange light escaped between his eyelids.

“Oh but Jake is telling me all about his travels! I’m guessing he told you all of this over your secret mirror chats. But I wasn’t privy to those!”

Yonah hugged them both tighter to him.

“But I am privy to your conversations whether I want to be or not.” Sometimes sensitive ears were a curse.

“But-“ Sophia wanted to stay up!

“Do I have to eat you to separate you two? Because I will.” He ran his fingers down Sophia’s back. Perfectly positioned to snatch her up no problem.

“I can still talk to him if you do!” Sophia countered. and Jake could sense her wicked smile. “You aren’t that fat!”

Yonah’s chest rose and fell with great vibrations as he groaned at the prospect. To the two humans it was 30 second massage. Intensely soothing.

“We’ll continue this tomorrow,” Jake yawned, getting comfortable against the wizard’s chest. Sophia did the same but punched Yonah a few times for good luck.

And they slept.

[FIN]

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment!


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